THE FRUITS OF DISOBEDIENCE : PART 6
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Mystery Of The Shulamite Woman, Queen Of Sheba, Sheba And
Beersheba, Kings Of The North And The South, King Solomon's
Fall And Apostasy, Kingdom Divided, Corrupt Jewish Gene Pool
True Jews, The Descendants Of Canaan, List Of Pagan Gods And
Goddesses Of The Heathen, Depth Of Israelite's Backslidden
State, Carried To Assyria, Perversion Of Samaria By Assyria,
More On Israelites' Apostasy, Child Sacrifices In Jerusalem,
Egyptian Gods Destroyed By Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar
Returning to Solomon's wife, I also find it interesting that
in the previous verses, the Shulamite compares her skin color
to the tents of Kedar. Apparently, she must have been quite
familiar with the tents of Kedar. But exactly who was Kedar?
He was a son of Ishmael, who in turn was the son of Hagar
the Egyptian, by the Patriarch Abraham. The Bible also tells
us that Hagar obtained an Egyptian wife for her son, Ishmael,
as we see here:
"And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took
him a wife out of the land of Egypt." Genesis 21:21, KJV
The word "kedar" happens to mean "dark", which may be another
indication that the Egyptians, or Mizraim, were dark-skinned
people. After all, if Kedar was dark, assuming that it means
dark-skinned, then it only stands to reason that it may have
been a result of the genes he had inherited from one of his
parents. If his mother was from Egypt, and his grandmother,
Hagar, was as Egyptian as well, it would seem to add a lot of
weight to the possibility that they were in fact dark-skinned.
Consider the following analysis:
Abraham (Shemite) + Hagar (Hamite) = Ishmael (half and half)
Ishmael (half & half) + his wife (Hamite) = Kedar (3/4 Hamite)
If the above is accurate, then it is easy to see why Kedar
would be considerably darker than his grandfather Abraham;
because he would be three quarters Hamite, and only one
quarter Shemite, whereas Abraham, we assume, was purely a
Shemite.
There is a certain historical irony to all of this. You see,
if the Egyptians were black as I have proposed, that means
that the fair-skinned Israelites, (who were Shemites), were
in fact enslaved by the black Hamites, millennia before the
Shemites would turn around and enslave the Hamites; which, as
you know, is how black slaves would eventually arrive on the
shores of Europe and North America. Could the fact that the
Hamites enslaved the Shemite Israelites in Egypt, be one of
the reasons why some Jews still have a deep hatred for the
Blacks, as is taught in their own holy book, the Babylonian
Talmud?
Returning to the Shulamite, a few verses later, she compares
her husband, Solomon, to "a company of horses in Pharaoh's
chariots", as we see here:
"I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in
Pharaoh's chariots." Song of Solomon 1:9, KJV
Here again, the Shulamite woman reveals her familiarity with
things Egyptian; which offers another tantalizing clue which
may point to her place of origin and possible identity. Until
now, I was under the impression that she was a descendant of
someone by the name of Shula; however, additional research
revealed something entirely different to me. According to my
Hebrew lexicon, the word "Shulamite" means "the perfect" or
"the peaceful". Other than this, there are no genealogical
names associated with it. In other words, her ancestors are
not listed. However, the lexicon also states that the word
"Shulamite" is derived from the word "shalam", which just so
happens to mean "to be in a covenant of peace, be at peace,
to make peace with". With that definition, I have just told
you exactly who I think she was.
So, exactly who was the mysterious Shulamite woman mentioned
in the Songs of Solomon? Earlier, we read that Solomon made
affinity with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's
daughter to be his wife. The word "affinity" is derived from
the Hebrew "chathan", which means to become a son-in-law. In
other words, it seems to me that what we are actually being
told through these various verses, is that being a rather
wise king, Solomon entered into an alliance with Pharaoh of
Egypt; he made a peace agreement with him; and married into
his family, by taking his daughter for a wife. By doing so,
Solomon obviously hoped to extend the size of his kingdom,
and secure the southern border of the same as well. So my
guess is that the Shulamite woman, that is, the "peaceful
one", from the Hebrew "shalam", may have been none other
than the daughter of Pharaoh, who Solomon married. She may
be the mystery woman of the Songs of Solomon. Pharaoh gave
her to King Solomon as his "token of peace" between their
two nations, and she was obviously black. It is just my
personal theory, but it seems to make a lot of sense to me.
There is additional evidence which may support my conclusion.
Consider also the following points, which I also discuss in
the series "The Kings Of The North And The South". Only seven
chapters after this marriage arrangement is mentioned, we are
told how the Queen of Sheba likewise visited Solomon, after
she had heard of his wisdom, as we see here:
"And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with
hard questions...And when the queen of Sheba had seen all
Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built...And she
gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of
spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no
more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of
Sheba gave to king Solomon...And king Solomon gave unto the
queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside
that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she
turned and went to her own country, she and her servants."
1 Kings 10:1, 4, 10, 13, KJV
In discussing these famous encounters between King Solomon
and this obviously very rich Queen of Sheba, Jesus had the
following to say in the New Testament:
"The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with
this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the
uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."
Matthew 12:42, KJV
As you can see, Jesus equated the queen of the south with
the Queen of Sheba, which obviously indicates that they are
one and the same person. That phrase "uttermost parts of the
earth" is also very interesting, because it offers us a hint
regarding the place of origin of this Queen of Sheba, or
Queen of the South. The word "uttermost" is translated from
the Greek word "peras" which means extremity, end, boundary
or frontier. The word translated here as "earth", that is,
the Greek "ge", also means "a country, land enclosed within
fixed boundaries". So what we are being told here is that
the Queen of Sheba, the Queen of the South, originated in a
country which was located at the southern border of Israel.
This then leaves us with one question: where or what is
Sheba? As I have pointed out before, the Bible is for the
most part self-interpreting, and it provides us with an
answer in the Book of Genesis, as we see here:
"And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and
Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and
Dedan." Genesis 10:7, KJV
The above verse demonstrates that Sheba was the grandson of
Cush, and the great grandson of Ham, who as we saw earlier,
was one of the three sons of Noah. In essence then, Sheba
belonged to the dark races which eventually settled in north
Africa; he was a Hamite. In the twenty-first chapter of the
Book of Genesis, we find the story of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac,
Hagar and Ishmael, which we discussed earlier. At Sarah's
insistence, Abraham sent away Hagar and her son Ishmael,
after Ishmael had mocked them, as we see here:
"And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had
born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham,
Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with
Isaac...And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took
bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar,
putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her
away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of
Beersheba." Genesis 21:9-10, 14, KJV
It is in this very same chapter that Abraham experiences
some problems with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines,
when Abimelech's servants steal a water well which had been
dug by Abraham's servants. The two men come to an agreement
concerning the issue, and Abraham calls the place Beersheba.
The name Beersheba, pronounced be-ayr' sheh'-bah, actually
means "well of the sevenfold oath". Abraham first named it
this because of the precise agreement he had made with
Abimelech, as we see in these verses:
"And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe
lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For
these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they
may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they
sware both of them." Genesis 21:28-31, KJV
Some of these wells were eventually filled in with dirt by
the trouble-making Philistines, until the servants of Isaac
re-discovered them, as we see here:
"For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in
the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped
them, and filled them with earth...And it came to pass the
same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him
concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto
him, We have found water. And he called it Shebah: therefore
the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day."
Genesis 26:15, 32-33, KJV
In the following verse found in the Book of Joshua, we make
another important discovery concerning Sheba and Beersheba:
"And they had in their inheritance Beersheba, or Sheba, and
Moladah," Joshua 19:2, KJV
So what we see then, is that Beersheba and Sheba are one and
the same place, and that it was re-named this by Isaac after
his servants had re-discovered the well first dug there by
his father Abraham. Looking at any ancient map of the area
found in many Bibles, will quickly confirm that Beersheba is
located in a region which was formerly the northern border
of the Egyptian Empire, or the southern border of Israel if
you prefer, at the time that King David was in power. About
four hundred years prior to this, around 1450 BC, the entire
land of Canaan was under the dominion of Thutmose III; but
with the arrival of the Israelites, as well as due to the
invading armies coming from the north and east, the northern
border of the Egyptian Empire slowly receded southward over
the years. However, the simple fact remains that being as
this woman was called the Queen of Sheba, it does seem to
indicate that at the time of Solomon's reign, Beersheba was
still not under the full control of the Israelites. Perhaps
it was Solomon's marriage to the Pharaoh's daughter which
changed this. Today, Beersheba, or Be'er Sheva, as it is
also spelled, is a city located on the northwestern edge of
the Negev Desert, which runs into the Sinai Desert of Egypt.
It seems very possible then, and even likely, that the Queen
of Sheba who went to visit Solomon, was none other than the
Queen of Egypt, also known as the Queen of the South.
As a final closing argument to prove what I have just stated,
consider that in the prophecies of Daniel, we are informed of
the various wars which occur between the "king of the north",
and the "king of the south". While the Authorized King James
Version of the Bible uses these two phrases, certain other
translations of the Scriptures actually use the phrases "the
king of Syria, (north), and "the king of Egypt", (south); and
after doing some Biblical research of my own, I came to the
exact same conclusions, as I explain in my article "The Kings
Of The North And The South". Finally, as if it is icing on
the cake, the word "south" is derived from the Hebrew word
"negeb", which today is written as "negev"; the name of the
very desert which borders with Egypt. So who knows; maybe
the Queen of Sheba, the Queen of the South, the Queen of the
Negev, was even the mother of the Shulamite who Solomon
married; but I cannot conclusively prove this point. It is
merely a speculation on my part. I just don't see how the
king of the south can be Pharoah of Egypt, while the queen
of the south cannot be the Queen of Egypt; do you?
Whatever the case may be, given how King Solomon eventually
fell into deep apostasy in his old age, I wonder if his peace
agreement with the Hamites of Egypt, and marrying Pharaoh's
daughter, (the Shulamite?), was a wise move after all. Let
us not forget that the Lord specifically told the Israelites
to not marry foreign women; and while Moses' commandment did
not include the Egyptians by name, as we saw in part five by
the verses found in the Book of Ezra, they were included in
the ban. Furthermore, my research has shown that these ethnic
groups were dependent upon Egypt, and in fact paid tribute to
the Egyptians. Finally, it was their worship of Egyptian gods
and goddesses which got the children of Israel in trouble in
the first place; and it seems that King Solomon fell into the
very same trap again. What was the Lord's reasoning behind
this commandment? As we saw earlier, Moses said:
"Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter
thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt
thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from
following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the
anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee
suddenly." Deuteronomy 7:3-4, KJV
In spite of this admonition from the Lord, in the first Book
of the Kings, we read the following sad account concerning
Solomon's many foreign wives, and his backslidden condition.
Please notice that Pharaoh's daughter is mentioned first, as
if to suggest that not only was she Solomon's main wife, but
she may have also been the first one, as well as the most
influential one, to lead him astray in his old age:
"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with
the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites,
Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning
which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall
not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for
surely they will turn away your heart after their gods:
Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred
wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his
wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when
Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after
other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his
God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went
after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after
Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did
evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the
LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an
high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill
that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of
the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his
strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their
gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart
was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared
unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing,
that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that
which the LORD commanded." 1 Kings 11:1-10, KJV
As we saw in part five, because of King Solomon's sins of
idolatry and pagan devil worship, the Lord lifted up enemies
all round him; however, as I have already explained, it was
not until his son Rehoboam sat on the throne, that ten of
the tribes of Israel were taken from him by the Lord, and
given to his enemy, Jeroboam, who had fled years earlier to
Egypt, in order to escape the wrath of Solomon. That must
have been one time when the close relationship with Egypt
was appreciated. As I noted before, the only tribes left to
the house of David were Judah and Benjamin. This all came
about as a result of Rehoboam's refusal to listen to the wise
counsel of the old men, who had likewise served as advisers
to his father, King Solomon. Please note that while these
verses say one tribe, we are later told that the tribe of
Benjamin clung to Judah, and remained faithful to the king:
"Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is
done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my
statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend
the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy
father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy
son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will
give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and
for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen."
1 Kings 11:11-13, KJV
Thus began the long history of the wars between the kingdoms
of Judah, ruled from Jerusalem in the south, and Israel, or
Ephraim, ruled from Samaria in the north. As a result of the
foreign blood which was particularly prevalent in Samaria
and northern Israel, even at the time of Christ, there were
still hostile feelings between the Jews of Judah, and the
Israelites of Samaria, known as the Samaritans. As should
now be seen, all of these serious problems with idolatry and
mixed marriages were a result of the children of Israel not
obeying the commandments first given to Moses to destroy the
devil-worshipping pagans which dwelt in the land of Canaan.
Their compromises with the enemy, and sins against the Lord,
had devastating effects on the land and people of ancient
Israel.
Ethnically-speaking, due to the mixed marriages with those
of Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian and Canaanite blood, the
gene pool of the true Israelite became polluted with that of
the darker-skinned Arabs and negroid races of Africa. In a
religious sense, we have already seen the dire effects that
pagan worship had on the ancient Israelite religious system.
Thus, it appears that the people who claim to be the Jews of
modern Israel may not really be true Jews at all; neither in
the flesh, nor in the Spirit. Genetically-speaking, I wonder
how many of them are really pure; and spiritually-speaking,
because of their rejection of Jesus Christ, most of them are
not true Jews either. For more details regarding this issue
of the true spiritual Israel, please refer to my series "Is
God A Racist?".
Moving on, if you compare the names in the following verses
with the nations and peoples I listed previously, you will
see the direct relationship between them and Canaan; the
father of the enemies of ancient Israel:
"And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah,
and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and
Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in
the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore
it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the
LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech,
and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that
land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city
Rehoboth, and Calah, And Resen between Nineveh and Calah:
the same is a great city. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and
Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, And Pathrusim, and
Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim. And
Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the
Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the
Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite,
and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the
families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the border of
the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto
Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah,
and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. These are the sons of Ham,
after their families, after their tongues, in their
countries, and in their nations." Genesis 10:6-20, KJV
Notice that these "countries" and "nations" were all located
within the borders of Canaan; which again shows that our
understanding of the word "nation" is not the same as it is
used in the Bible. It simply meant a certain ethnic group.
Following below is a list of some of the various gods and
goddesses which were worshipped by these pagan nations and
other foreign invaders; all of which were later idolized by
the Israelites. All of these names can be found in the 1611
Authorized King James Bible. This list may not be complete:
1. Adrammelech - god of the Sepharvites of Sepharvaim, Syria
introduced to Israel by Shalmanesser the
fifth. Children were offered to this idol.
It means 'honour the king'.
2. Anammelech - false god of the Assyrians introduced to
Israel during the monarchy. Worshipped with
rites resembling those of Molech. The
companion god of Adrammelech. It means
'image of the king'.
3. Ashima - god worshipped by the men of Hamath in
upper Syria. It means 'guiltiness: I will
make desolate'.
4. Ashtoreth - supreme goddess (of war and fertility) of
the Canaanites and Phoenicians known as
Ishtar to the Assyrians, and as Astarte to
the Greeks and Romans. It's also written as
Ashtaroth or Astaroth. It may have also
been Isis of the Egyptians. It means 'star'.
5. Baal - supreme god of the Canaanites and
Phoenicians. Also known as Baalim. It means
'lord'.
6. Baal-peor - god worshipped at Peor with probable
licentious rites. Means 'lord of the gap'.
7. Baal-zebub - god of the Philistines worshipped at Ekron.
It means 'lord of the flies'.
9. Baalberith - god of the Philistines which means 'lord of
the covenant'.
10. Bel - a chief Babylonian god. Possibly the same
as Baal since it also means 'lord'.
11. Chemosh - the national deity of the Moabites and a
god of the Ammonites, also identified with
Baal-peor, Baal-zebub, Mars and Saturn. It
means 'subduer'.
12. Chiun - probably a statue of the Assyrian and
Babylonian god of the planet Saturn. It
means 'an image' or 'pillar'.
13. Dagon - god of fertility of the Philistines which
had the face and hands of a man, and the
tail of a fish. It means 'a fish'.
14. Merodach - the chief deity of the Babylonians in the
time of Nebuchadnezzar. It means 'thy
rebellion'.
15. Milcom - believed to be an alternate name for Molech.
Also Malcham. It means 'great king'.
16. Molech - god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians. It
means 'great king'.
17. Nehushtan - name given to the serpent of brass made by
Moses which the children of Israel idolized
until it was destroyed by King Hezekiah. It
means 'a thing of brass'.
18. Nergal - A chief deity of Assyria and Babylon which
was worshipped by the men of Cuth northeast
of Babylon. It means 'hero'.
19. Nibhaz - god of the Avites in the shape of a dog,
which they introduced into Samaria in the
time of Shalmanesser. Means 'the barker'.
20. Nisroch - a god of Nineveh worshipped by Assyrian
king Sennacherib. It had a human body with
an eagle's head. It means 'the great eagle'.
21. Remphan - name of an idol worshipped secretly by the
Israelites in the wilderness. It may be
associated with Chiun. It means 'the
shrunken' as in lifeless.
22. Shach - Babylonian goddess
23. Succoth - Assyrian or Babylonian deity worshipped by
-benoth the Babylonians in Samaria. It means 'the
daughter's booth'.
24. Tartak - god of the Avites of Samaria with the form
of an ass. It means 'prince of darkness'.
As can be easily seen, when the children of Israel decided
to backslide into paganism, they did it with full abandon.
Can there be any doubt then as to why the Lord decided to
remove His blessings from them? In the second Book of the
Kings, we read the following account of their backslidings,
which leaves no doubt concerning why the Lord allowed them
to be carried away captive by the king of Assyria:
"For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned
against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of
the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes
of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the
children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they
had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those
things that were not right against the LORD their God, and
they built them high places in all their cities, from the
tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them
up images and groves in every high hill, and under every
green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high
places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before
them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to
anger: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto
them, Ye shall not do this thing." 2 Kings 17:7-12, KJV
"Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their
necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not
believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected his
statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers,
and his testimonies which he testified against them; and
they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the
heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD
had charged them, that they should not do like them. And
they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and
made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove,
and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And
they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through
the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold
themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke
him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel,
and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but
the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the
commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the
statutes of Israel which they made. And the LORD rejected
all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered
them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out
of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David;
and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam
drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a
great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins
of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until
the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by
all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away
out of their own land to Assyria unto this day."
2 Kings 17:14-23, KJV
Not only did the Lord allow the inhabitants of the northern
kingdom of Israel to be carried away captive into Assyria
and lands beyond, but we are also told that Esar-haddon, the
king of Assyria at the time, brought idol-worshipping people
from Babylon, Assyria and Syria, to replace those whom he
had carried away captive out of Samaria, the capital of
Israel, as we see by these verses:
"And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from
Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim,
and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the
children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
the cities thereof...Howbeit every nation made gods of their
own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the
Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein
they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and
the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made
Ashima, And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the
Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and
Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the LORD,
and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of
the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of
the high places. They feared the LORD, and served their own
gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away
from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners:
they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their
statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and
commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob,
whom he named Israel;" 2 Kings 17:24, 29-34, KJV
The Book of the Judges is also very revealing concerning the
depth of the pagan worship into which the children of Israel
had fallen; even before the appointment of their very first
king, Saul. In the tenth chapter we read the following:
"And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of
Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the
gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the
Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him."
Judges 10:6, KJV
According to the young Prophet Jeremiah, just prior to the
Babylonian invasions by King Nebuchadnezzar, there were so
many false gods and goddesses in Judah, that they numbered
as many as the cities therein; and the altars numbered as
many as the streets of Jerusalem. Jeremiah wrote:
"For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O
Judah; and according to the number of the streets of
Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even
altars to burn incense unto Baal." Jeremiah 11:13, KJV
Jeremiah also spoke of how the people of Jerusalem offered
their children upon the altars of Molech in the Valley of
Hinnom; which was a steep gorge running east to west, just
south of Jerusalem. It was later used to burn garbage and
the dead bodies of criminals. Jesus used Hinnom, or Gehenna,
as an example of hellfire, as I point out in my article
"Hell And The Lake Of Fire". Jeremiah again wrote:
"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I
commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they
should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."
Jeremiah 32:35, KJV
After Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all of the captains of
the forces had taken the remnant of Judah, including all of
the men, women and children, plus Jeremiah the Prophet and
Baruch the son of Neriah, down to Taphanhes in Egypt, where
they hoped to escape further wrath from King Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon, the Lord rebuked Johanan via Jeremiah by saying:
"Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay
in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house
in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; And say unto
them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of
Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these
stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal
pavilion over them. And when he cometh, he shall smite the
land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death;
and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are
for the sword to the sword. And I will kindle a fire in the
houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and
carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with
the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and
he shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall break also
the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and
the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with
fire." Jeremiah 43:9-13, KJV
In the previous verses, "Bethshemesh" means "the house of the
sun", or "sun-temple". Tahpanhes is currently known as "Tel
Defenneh", or "Tel Defneh", and is located about eighteen
miles east southeast of Tanis, Egypt. In the Book of Psalms,
King David also wrote very descriptively concerning the
grave disobediences, the bloody sacrifice of children, and
the spiritual whoredoms of Israel in the following verses:
"They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the
sacrifices of the dead...They did not destroy the nations,
concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled
among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served
their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they
sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And
shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of
their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of
Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they
defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their
own inventions." Psalms 106:28, 34-39, KJV
As we conclude this series in part seven, we will look at
such topics as the importance of tempering chastisement with
hope and mercy, the promised return to Israel, God's desire
for us to repent, our sins made as white as snow, the danger
of becoming numb to the conviction of God's Spirit due to
sin, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the danger of
forsaking God's Mercy, the coming Arab invasion of Israel,
the Battle of Armageddon, the definition of an antichrist,
and God's Wrath. I trust that you will join me.
[ Click Me ] Go To Part Seven . . .